Line #17 Film/BurnNoticeTheFallOfSamAxe


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/burn_notice_axe_poster.jpg]]
2
3	A {{prequel}} based off the popular series ''Series/BurnNotice'', [[ADayInTheLimelight highlighting]] Michael Westen's [[TheLancer right hand man]], Sam Axe. When the series started, all we knew was that Sam was retired and romancing Miami widows while [[TheAlcoholic drinking away]] his pension. We eventually learned that Sam's retirement was forced upon him and that the government does not look upon his military record with fondness[[note]] When they look at all...but you'll need to watch to find out why that might be.[[/note]].
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5	This is the full story of his last mission as an elite Navy Seal[=/=]Special Forces leader, set in Colombia.
6
7	[[MemeticBadass Legendary]] badass Creator/BruceCampbell plays Sam and ''Series/BurnNotice'' star Jeffrey Donovan serves [[DirectedByCastMember as director]].
8	----
9	!!This movie provides examples of:
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11	%%* ActionGirl: Beatriz.
12	* ActorAllusion: Sam at one point says "[[Franchise/EvilDead Very Groovy]]." His nickname among the Flaming Sword soldiers is "The Chin". Also, the chainsaw. He also holds up a gun in a triumphant stance, much like the "This is my boomstick!" scene. Not to mention the scene where he ''throws a freakin' chainsaw.''
13	* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Everyone calls Sam "soldier". That's understandable for the civilians (and he protests once or twice), but not at all for his tribunal. Sam's in the navy. He's a ''sailor'', or a ''seaman'', and they would call him that, or by his rank.
14	* AskAStupidQuestion: Sam wonders why Beatríz is working with the Espada Ardiente, because most girls her age are into makeup and shopping malls.
15	-->'''Beatríz:''' Do you see any shopping malls around here?\
16	'''Sam:''' No, you blindfolded me, remember?
17	* BadBoss:
18	** The plot gets kicked off when Sam accidentally sleeps with an admiral's wife (the sex part was intentional, not the her being an admiral's wife part) and the man retaliates by sending him to Colombia with an unclear, long-term, crap assignment.
19	** Earlier, when Sam faked his own kidnapping, [[spoiler: Veracruz]] shot the soldier who was standing guard at the time to make the report look good, as well as punishment for letting Sam get away.
20	** [[spoiler: Veracruz]], when Sam escapes. He grabs one of his men and hurls him off the hilltop they're standing on in a fit of rage.
21	* BananaRepublic: Taking place in Colombia
22	* BatmanGambit: Sam pulls one out to avoid military jail time after everything he pulled. [[spoiler: Beatriz takes a lot of photos of the LastStand and spreads the story to the Columbian newspapers. Because Sam's name and face was in a lot of them he used that as leverage to both get the charges dropped and full retirement benefits, as if the whole story is uncovered it would look good for Sam and bad for the military]].
23	* BigDamnGunship: [[spoiler:Things are looking grim for Sam near the end of the final battle until Colombian police helicopters finally show up.]]
24	* BigDamnKiss: Lampshaded, the characters even imply they are doing it out [[EnforcedTrope of tradition]] rather than having genuinely fallen for each other.
25	* BilingualBonus: Beatriz doesn't entirely translate Sam's big speech to the Espada Ardiente correctly. When he says "I made some mistakes," she correctly translates this as "Yo cometí errores." He then says "you made some mistakes," which she translates as "y seguí cometiendo errores" -- which means "and I continued making mistakes."
26	* BittersweetEnding: As the title suggests, Sam is forced out of the Navy and Luis [[spoiler:dies protecting his friends.]] However, [[spoiler:Veracruz and his men are arrested]], Beatriz has become a reporter by the end, and Sam was able to receive his pension and other benefits instead of being court-martialed.
27	* CallForward: Sam mentions to Michael that he wants to be taught some of that spy stuff sometime.
28	* ChainsawGood: Sam throws a chainsaw at one scene to distract the mooks while he and the good guys roll boulders on them.
29	* ChivalrousPervert: Sam is a huge womanizer, but he draws the line at sleeping with married women and is horrified when he finds out he made such a mistake.
30	* CombatMedic: Ben Delaney, who [[TookALevelInBadass discovers that]] he's pretty adept at [[spoiler: putting together and handling explosives.]]
31	* ConservationOfNinjitsu: Constantly dismissed by Sam. No matter how good their tactics were or how brave their men are, they were outgunned and outmanned and the only option was calling for help.
32	* ContinuityCameo: Michael makes an appearance (with a beard, no less) along with a small reference to Fiona.
33	* ContinuityDrift: Minor example. In the pilot of ''Series/BurnNotice'' Michael responded to Sam's name in a manner that implied a sort of "friendly with each other, but not close friends" dynamic as Michael was looking pretty deep to find anyone he could talk to (a part of the OpeningMonologue). This movie said that during that time period they try to get a beer together anytime they are in the same city, they were always really close friends.
34	** Possibly more of a case of "''He's'' in town?" than an outright case of desperation. After all, the last time Michael saw Sam, Sam was still working with the government and going overseas. The fact that Sam is now retired (when he showed no signs of slowing down the last time they met) and just happens to be in Miami probably throws Michael for a bit.
35	* ContinuityNod: Sam takes the name Chuck Finley to scare [[spoiler: the CIA reinforcements into hurrying up to [[TheCavalry save them.]]]]
36	%%* CoolOldGuy: Luis, [[spoiler: most notably during his HeroicSacrifice.]]
37	* ADayInTheLimelight: Excepting a brief cameo from Michael near the beginning, the entire film is completely centered around Sam.
38	* DelayedExplosion: A gag delay when they [[spoiler: blow up the clinic to cover their escape]]. Semi-justified considering their detonator appeared to be a TV remote and it didn't work until they had a direct line of sight.
39	* DescriptionCut: Sam's superiors get upset when he explains that he gave [[ItMakesSenseInContext some training to a terrorist group]], and Sam replies he trained them on the level of a junior high football team. We cut away to Sam ''actually'' training them like they were a football team, specifically on how to approach a target and then run away.
40	* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Sam (slightly drunk) trying to explain his actions to his very pissed-off superior:
41	-->'''Sam''': Admiral sir, I was unaware that she was your significant other, sir...\
42	'''Adm. Maitland''': You were unaware?! You're a Navy SEAL, trained in battlefield awareness, and you [[FailedASpotCheck didn't see my]] '''[[FailedASpotCheck name on the mailbox]]'''?!\
43	'''Sam''': Well, sir, I wasn't exactly in that frame of mind when I was at your house. [[NotHelpingYourCase As you can imagine, I was otherwise occupied, sir]]... [[ShuttingUpNow I'll stop talking now, sir.]]
44	* DoomedByCanon: No matter the outcome, Sam is going to be forced out of the Navy by the end of film.
45	* TheExitIsThatWay: A wordless version happens to Sam and his escort at the start as they get lost on the way to his court martial.
46	* FailedASpotCheck: Admiral Maitland lampshades the fact that Sam, a Navy Seal trained in battlefield awareness, didn't notice the admiral's name on the mailbox of his one night stand's house. Sam tries to defend himself by saying he was [[DistractedByTheSexy distracted]] by the time he was at the house, [[NotHelpingYourCase which doesn't help his case at all]].
47	* FalseFlagOperation: Veracruz plans to destroy a medical clinic and blame the rebels, using the attack as a justification for receiving greater US military aid.
48	* FanserviceExtra: The lady wearing the backless sun dress at the Miami airport at the end, complete with an AsideGlance from Sam.
49	* FauxAffablyEvil: Veracruz is quite charming, but this turns out to be a facade hiding what a cold and ruthless monster he is.
50	* ForegoneConclusion: We already know that Sam will survive the events of the movie, and that he will somehow get kicked out of the Navy. What's more {{JustForFun/egregious}} is during the debriefing, [[spoiler:the interviewer pretty much gives away the fact that most of the characters survive.]]
51	* FriendToAllChildren: While clearing out the clinic, Beatríz has trouble getting a child to hurry onto the truck. Sam steps in and, even with his limited Spanish, manages to charm the child and deliver her to her mother.
52	* FunWithSubtitles: Sam speaks Spanish well enough, but even he admits he speaks on the level of a third grader. Thus the subtitles for his simple, broken Spanish is represented in simple, broken English "Tired. Much tired."
53	* FunnyForeigner: Sam gets to be one in Colombia. He's dressed in an absurd uniform, speaking broken Spanish, and stumbling around the jungle.
54	* GatlingGood: [[spoiler: The [[TheCavalry Colombian Police helicopters]] are armed with them]]
55	* HeroOfAnotherStory: While Sam is in Colombia, Michael is apparently doing his spy thing "somewhere sunny." That requires him to have a beard, apparently...
56	** Considering what we know from the main series, Mikey's likely running ops in Afghanistan. Real U.S. spec-ops there who work with the indigs have to grow beards to be respected in the native villages.
57	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Luis]] makes one to cover the Espada's retreat.
58	* HighlyVisibleNinja: Joked at, with Sam being given sky blue camo fatigues to walk around with in the Colombian jungle.
59	* HowWeGotHere: The whole story is related by Sam as he is put into a military debriefing, using a voice over that isn't too far off the same tone that Michael uses in the show.
60	* IKnowMaddenKombat: Despite knowing actual military tactics, when training combatants to survive on the battlefield, Sam Axe teaches the tactics are heavily based on team secrets of a football team. Supposedly this helped protect him from legal charges.
61	* IndyPloy: Sam invokes this trope several times
62	* ISurrenderSuckers: Sam's last ditch ploy is to go out alone, unarmed, to try and buy time for reinforcements to arrive. All he can do is take a beating.
63	* ItsAllMyFault: Beatriz says this when [[spoiler:she reveals that she was the one who created the Espada, leading up to the film's events.]]
64	* KnightInSourArmor: Sam remarks that Amanda, an international aid worker, has none of the sunny optimism he would expect from someone in her profession. Her reply is quiet but blistering:
65	-->''Only someone who isn't an aid worker could ask that. You get into this business because you want to make the world a better place, and it turns out that there's people out there who just want to make it worse, and we're outnumbered. By a lot.''
66	* LaResistance: The Espada are are ostensibly this, until [[spoiler:it's subverted when Sam finds out that they're just a bunch of local farmers who were convinced by Beatriz to fight Veracruz]]. [[spoiler:A lucky break gave them a key victory that convinced everyone from Veracruz to the US government that they were a mighty fighting force]].
67	* LanternJawOfJustice: Sam's nickname in Colombia references Campbell's most famous attribute.
68	** He doesn't get it, either.
69	* LineOfSightAlias: Sam's GoToAlias [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Finley Chuck Finley]] was taken from the cover of a sports magazine.
70	* LoversLedge: Happens to Sam after he is caught in bed with an admiral's wife.
71	* MacGyvering: This is a Burn Notice! Sam and the doctor at the clinic have to put together bombs out of medical equipment and supplies. They both end up surprised at how good the doctor gets at improvising explosives.
72	* MoralityPet: Beatriz to Sam.
73	* MundaneSolution: When Sam asks for advice on how to deal with his sticky situation (i.e., finding out his girlfriend is married, to an ''admiral'' no less), Michael tells him to confess to the admiral immediately and explain that Sam didn't know who she was until things got out of hand. Sam rejects this advice, hoping for the ''"super-spy advice on how to keep this quiet."'' Michael says there isn't any:
74	-->'''Michael''': You remember that thing in Kiev with Misha? When he sold out the wetwork team on their way to Paris?\
75	'''Sam''': Hell, yeah. What about it?\
76	'''Michael''': That's the kind of secret that ''stays'' secret, because if it comes out, people get sent to Siberia. This will come out as soon as Maitland looks sideways at his wife.
77	* NoodleIncident: Sam and Michael briefly reminisce about working together on a mission in Poland, as well as a botched job in Kiev that got an entire wetwork team killed.
78	* NoYou: Sam gets in a shouting match with one of the officers running his not-a-trial.
79	-->'''Officer:''' You're talking to a superior officer!\
80	'''Sam:''' ''You're'' talking to a superior officer!
81	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Par for the course for Sam, both with Veracruz and with his interrogators.
82	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Both the two CIA operatives found at the listening outpost, and the Admiral who sent Sam there to get him out of sight and out of mind. They balk at Sam's requests, but ultimately still take the situation seriously.
83	* PaperTiger: Sam is stunned to learn that the ''Espadia Ardiente'' terrorist group that Veracruz's men have been preparing to fight are actually a small group of goat-herding villagers armed with out-of-date hunting rifles. Amanda explains that the villagers fought back against Veracruz's men ''"and got lucky enough times to make Veracruz think they were a lot bigger than they were."''
84	* PetTheDog: Sam specifically shows compassion to a girl the soldiers were roughing up for sneaking into camp when all she wanted was some food, and later when evacuating a clinic before the bad guys show up, he jokes with a terrified girl to get her to calm down and smile.
85	* ReassignedToAntarctica: Or rather, Colombia.
86	* ReassignmentBackfire: Sam is sent to Colombia, only to help uncover a plot by a corrupt politician to steal US military aid and nearly causing an international incident.
87	* RecapByAudit: The film uses the device of Sam Axe being interrogated by the United States military about his activities in Colombia; the damages that resulted; and everyone involved.
88	* RockBottom: Right before the climax, Sam is giving a pep talk to the doctor. "[[ShoutOut Could be worse.]] [[Film/YoungFrankenstein Could be raining.]]"
89	* RousingSpeech: Given by Sam, interpreted by Beatriz.
90	* SheCleansUpNicely: Beatriz has an almost boyish appearance most of the movie, until the end when she is seen wearing a flattering yellow dress walking around Bogotá.
91	* ShootTheFuelTank: Used for opening the climactic battle.
92	* ShoutOut:
93	** Mondo wounds one of Veracruz's soldiers. Sam tells him, "Good shot, Mondo! [[Franchise/StarWars Don't get cocky!]]"
94	** [[Franchise/EvilDead Bruce Campbell wielding a chainsaw.]]
95	*** Complete with him cheering "Very groovy!" when the chainsaw ploy worked.
96	* ThoseTwoGuys: The two CIA guys in the outpost. They end up becoming recurring characters to replace Sam's FBI guys.
97	* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Okay, so the ''Espada'' group isn't exactly helpless being armed with hunting rifles but the [[spoiler: twelve of them]] seem to react well enough to Sam's training on [[spoiler: [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Football]] ]] tactics.
98	** Lampshaded by an earlier exchange between Sam and Michael:
99	--->'''Sam''': How smart can spies be, huh? You're always fighting on the side with no guns.\
100	'''Michael''': There's certain rewards to fighting on the side with no guns.
101	* TruthInTelevision: Graymail is a thing; threatening to release state secrets in order to manipulate the outcome of a legal proceeding.
102	* UnreliableNarrator: Sam, mostly played for laughs. [[spoiler:However, towards the end, he purposefully withholds some details so that he can successfully pull of his BatmanGambit.]]
103	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Sam's reaction when he sees that the "Flaming Sword" is a bunch of goat herders with outdated guns.
104	** Michael doesn't say these exact words, but his tone of voice makes it clear what he thinks of the situation Sam's gotten himself into.

Context Film / BurnNoticeTheFallOfSamAxe